Star Points for December, 1997; by Curtis Roelle What Was Bethlehem's "Star"? In December the stars of Winter are rising in the east as the Summer stragglers sink below the horizon on the heels of the Sun. Fortunately for weekend observers December's best meteor shower, the Geminids, occurs on Saturday night the 13th. Unfortunately, the Moon will be nearly full so all but the brightest meteors will be masked by its glow. The brightest "star" in the southwest this month after sunset is the planet Venus which reaches its greatest brilliance for the year on December 14. Twice as bright as when we discussed Venus in July, its orbit around the sun has carried it more than 100 million miles closer to Earth. While observing brilliant Venus with Christmas approaching one could be tempted to compare it to the perceived appearance of the "star of Bethlehem". But is this Christmas card image of a bright gleaming star historically accurate? On a cold December night in 1985 the Westminster Astronomical Society positioned their telescopes on a hill overlooking Lake Hashawha north of Westminster and invited the public to view Comet Halley. By coincidence it was on the same night as the Geminid meteor shower. The crowd was delighted by this unadvertised surprise and responded with delight to the meteors which resembled bright white sparks ejected by the blow of a blacksmith's hammer. Unfortunately for Halley it was much farther from Earth than during its previous trip in 1910. Some observers expressed disappointment at the dimness of the comet's nebulous coma. One man was overheard sarcastically commenting how someday he could tell his grandchildren that he had stood in line to see a "faint fuzzy blob." Bright celestial objects such as Halley have been implicated as possible explanations to the legendary "star" of Bethlehem. In 1304 the painter Giotto di Bondone placed Halley over the stable in his famous fresco "Adoration of the Magi". Other star of Bethlehem candidates include supernovas, meteors, and planetary conjunctions. Meteors can quickly be dismissed because they appear for only a brief instant and travel rapidly. Meteors are not stationary. The six planets nearest to the Sun had been known since antiquity. It is very unlikely that any person deemed wise would have misidentified a planet as a new star. The story of that "star" has a dark side punctuated with mistrust and foreign intrigue and ultimately led to government-sponsored mass infanticide. The anonymous characters known as "the wise men" were probably astrologers perhaps from Persia, or modern Iran. They did not arrive at their final destination until up to two years after the birth of Jesus. In a meeting with King Herod in Jerusalem they announced seeing a star perceived by them as an indication of the birth of a new king. They asked Herod where this new king could be found. Herod consulted with his chief priests and scribes who told him that according to prophecy a ruler would come forth from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). With this new information the wise men departed for Bethlehem. The gospel of Mark tells of a star that "stood over" Bethlehem. Had the omen been a comet, supernova, or planetary grouping Earth's rotation would prevent an object from remaining motionless for any period of time. It would be a tricky feat to follow an object that rises in the east, culminates in the south or north, sets in the west, and then repeats the following day. How could the star be a normal celestial object? Herod was deeply troubled and had asked the wise men when the "star" would be visible. He and his entourage had failed to recognize the "star" themselves. Herod asked the men from the east to report back when they had located the new king so that he might come and "worship him". Upon the successful completion of their misison the wise men departed by another route and had no further contact with Herod. Feeling mocked and deceived Herod became enraged and ordered the immediate extermination of every child two years of age and younger in Bethlehem and up and down the coastline as well. If the "star" was bright certainly it would have been noticed if not by Herod himself then by one or more of his priests. The story suggests that even after having it explained to them the star remained imperceptible to Herod's men. Why else would Herod rely on these foreigners to provide critical intelligence information regarding the identity and location of an impending rival king? An interesting solution to this puzzling mystery was once articulated in a public lecture by Dr. Lawrence Marschall, head of the Astronomy Department at Gettysburg College. In approximately 6 BC there occurred a triple conjunction of two major planets within several months. A "conjunction" is simply an alignment. Because of the orbital motions of the planets and Earth about the Sun the planets appeared to align three times in the same general area of the sky. This region was known to the astronomers of Persia as the "House of Judah". This is an example of "mundane" astrology, or the belief that planetary motions influence the fortunes of entire nations. The belief was that by observing astronomical events in segments of the sky associated with neighboring lands that events and conditions occurring within those lands could be divined. Imagine the possibilities: More effective battle plans taking advantage at an enemy's time of weakness or perhaps anticipating the enemy's movements and motives. When the wise men saw a triple conjunction of two major planets occurring in a portion of the celestial sphere they associated with Israel it was to them an obvious indication of a meaningful event they interpreted as the birth of a king. In other countries with different astrological configurations the interpretation would be utterly different. Hence the confusion this caused in Jerusalem. We will probably never know the true identity of the wise men or understand precisely the nature of the phenomenon they referred to as "his star". All we know is that they were strangers on a quest with their eyes to the sky.